Chapter 215 The Mountain Gods of Xishan

Wu Yu and Fei Yu didn't realize anything was amiss until Wei Yuan's aura began to rise.

They subconsciously looked up and saw several auras rapidly approaching from the northwest of the entire Chaoge City. Soon, as witches and warriors, they noticed the appearance of the newcomers. From a human perspective, their appearances were somewhat strange.

Some had human faces and horse bodies.

Others had human faces and ox bodies.

Still others had four legs and one arm.

When Wei Yuan saw the appearances of these "people," he became even more certain of his conjecture.

These were indeed the mountain gods from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, possessing兽性 (shou xing, bestial nature), 神性 (shen xing, divine nature), and 人性 (ren xing, human nature) – the primordial gods.

The mountain gods also noticed Wei Yuan, who was also exuding the aura of a mountain god.

They noticed Fei Yu and Wu Yu.

They seemed to hesitate for a moment, looked at each other, and discussed something before collectively retracting their divine forms and transforming into normal humans. Some were beautiful women, some were kind old men, and others were burly strongmen. They landed on the mountaintop, and the elderly man at the head smiled and nodded at Wei Yuan, taking the initiative to say:

"We were originally drinking and laughing on Chongwu Mountain when we sensed a familiar aura here."

"So we came to take a look."

"We didn't expect that in this era, a fellow Daoist like you would be born."

*The familiar aura they sensed was probably not that of a mountain god, but really that of an acquaintance,* Wei Yuan silently thought to himself, not saying it aloud. Then, with an unchanged expression, he returned the greeting, saying, "I also didn't expect to meet all of you."

Seeing Wei Yuan's calm expression and courteous attitude, the oldest mountain god's expression seemed to soften even more. He nodded and smiled, "With a fellow Daoist awakening intelligence, our seventy-seven peaks of Xishan will become seventy-eight peaks. This is a great thing, so of course we had to come and see."

"I don't know how you wish to be addressed. Have you given yourself a name?"

Wei Yuan thought for a moment and replied, "I am the spirit of Mount Shang."

"As for a name…"

He paused, then said:

"You can call me Wei."

………………

Fei Yu and Wu Yu followed instructions to fetch wine and sacrificial meat.

Some were cooked and brought up, and some were raw.

These were all primordial mountain gods born in the era of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*. Some only liked raw meat for sacrifices. Wei Yuan cut the meat into small pieces with a knife, dipped them in the sauce made by Fei Yu and the others from various wild vegetables, chicken mashed into a paste, placed in a pottery jar, and seasoned with salt. The salty taste was strong, but the fishy smell that was originally created had disappeared.

This was 醓醢 (tanchi), a type of ancient Chinese meat sauce.

醓醢以荐，或燔或炙 (tanchi yi jian, huo fan huo zhi).

This meant that the meat was grilled and eaten with the sauce.

In such harsh environments, delicious food was already a rare pleasure.

The two strongman-like mountain gods had no such taboos and ate the raw meat in large mouthfuls.

The old man, however, seemed to have had contact with the human race and, out of consideration for appearances, was not so crude. He took a sip of the wine brewed in Chaoge City and sighed with emotion, "As expected, the wine brewed by the human race is still the best." Then, he looked at Wei Yuan and smiled, "What a pity, Wei. You were born a little too late. Otherwise, you could have experienced our best days."

"In that case, your name would have been recorded in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*."

"Those humans are very wary of all beasts, marking out those dangerous beasts and also writing down which beasts can be eaten. However, they are still quite respectful to us mountain gods. In the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, they recorded the methods of sacrificing to and treating us, passing them down to later generations."

A mountain god who looked like a strongman chewed his food and had a different opinion.

He sneered, "Bullshit, pass them down to later generations."

"Didn't that guy Yu relegate you and me here in the end? Saying that gods are not allowed to interfere in the human world? What's the use of him writing down our sacrificial methods in such detail? Apart from the occasional soul from Youdu sneaking out, does anyone still come to worship us?"

"When I see him, I will definitely demand an explanation!"

The old man sneered:

"Not convinced? If you're not convinced, why do you still call him King Yu?"

The strongman was stunned.

Immediately, he slammed the table in anger and said, "So what if I call him King Yu? Are you not convinced?!"

"Even if he comes, I'll still call him King Yu, so what?!"

"Even if he beats me to death, I'll still call him that. See if he dares to beat me to death!"

The beautiful woman raised her hand and rubbed her forehead.

The old man's temples throbbed.

Seeing that these mountain gods were about to argue,

Wei Yuan took the opportunity to pour wine for the old man, interrupting the atmosphere, and asked, "The *Classic of Mountains and Seas*?"

The old man glanced at him, his anger at the strongman slightly dissipated. He took a sip of wine and comforted him, saying:

"Wei, you are a newly born mountain god, so it's normal that you don't know the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*."

"Don't worry too much about it."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "I really don't know."

"What's so special about this *Classic of Mountains and Seas*?"

The charming woman said:

"As for what's so special about it, it's not really anything special, but it was written by King Yu, dictated by him and recorded by his ministers on the jade books of Fangfengshi. Everything in the human world at that time was recorded, including the thirty-six countries overseas, the sunless Youdu, the gods of heaven and earth, and historical legends."

"Among them, rare flowers, exotic plants, ferocious beasts, and precious jades only occupy a small part."

"But that's already weighty enough."

"Not to mention that after the death of King Yu's ministers, King Yu personally recorded and supplemented this jade book, naming it the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, meaning that everything between the mountains and seas is included within it."

Wei Yuan took the opportunity to ask, "I wonder where this *Classic of Mountains and Seas* is now?"

The old man shook his head and sighed, "It's long gone. King Yu split the mountains and seas, and the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* was also split. At the beginning, he returned the jade books, each recording a wisp of our respective divine souls, to us, meaning that everything he did was for the human race, but he had no intention of exterminating the other races."

"The mountains and seas and the human world,异兽 (yi shou, strange beasts) and humans each occupy a part."

"What a pity, what a pity…"

The old man sighed, his expression lonely, and said, "Unfortunately, after that, the mountain and sea realm never saw an emperor like the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors again. I don't know how Shenzhou is, but in any case, the various races of the mountains and seas fought in chaos. The jade books left by King Yu were even more heavily contested. In the end, they all gathered in two places."

Wei Yuan whispered:

"Two places?"

"Yes, one part is on Mount Gui, plundered by Qiongqi, and the other part is controlled by the god of Zhongshan. After that, the mountain and sea realm, at least within the scope of the seventy-seven mountains of the Xishan Jing, has calmed down."

"Zhu Long, Qiongqi."

Wei Yuan really didn't know what to say. He pressed his brow, unable to help but ridicule himself inwardly.

*There's good news and bad news.*

*The good news is that you don't have to go to so much trouble to collect the jade books of the seventy-seven mountains of the Xishan Jing. Someone has already helped you collect them. You just need to go and take them back.*

*Simple, right?*

*The bad news is that one of these guys is called Zhu Jiuyin.*

*And the other is Qiongqi.*

He didn't reveal his emotions, but smiled and invited the mountain gods to drink and talk. When the mountain gods left, the old man's face was slightly flushed with drunkenness. He patted Wei Yuan on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Wei, you need to prepare yourself. After a while, there should be divine messengers coming to find you."

"Divine messengers?"

"Yes, of course. Since you are the mountain god here, you must pay respects to the two great gods."

He hiccuped and said, "The mountain god of Kunlun Hill, Ying Zhao."

"And, and…"

"The god of Zhongshan, Zhu Jiuyin."

………………

A moment later, after enjoying the long-lost human delicacies, the mountain gods left drunkenly. Before leaving, they also took away a few jars of wine and a whole roasted lamb. The skillfulness of this made Wei Yuan suspect that they had come specifically to freeload. They were too skilled.

He retracted his gaze and looked at Fei Yu and Wu Yu beside him. After thinking for a moment, he said, "During this time, continue to hunt according to the route I told you before. Oh, right, and the mountains where those mountain gods are located, you can go there once every so often. Sacrifice to them according to the method I gave you. Remember to bring more wine."

"Sacrifice before entering the mountain, and that hunt will definitely be bountiful."

"But remember to restrain your greed."

Wei Yuan spoke of the rules from ancient times, saying, "The prey from the hunt should only be enough to satisfy your diet, and you can only take twice the amount of fruit you need for brewing wine. If you do this, you will get the same or even more abundant things every month. Most of the mountain gods are gods who value rules, but they hate greedy demands the most."

"Humans should learn to coexist with these gods. You don't want to see the wrath of the mountain gods."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu nodded to show that they had remembered.

Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said:

"I still have some things to do. The next time we sacrifice, I will take you to Mount Chongwu."

"To pick some of that fruit back."

It was also to see the old place.

As for going to see Zhu Long, he would delay it as long as possible. What a pity, he wondered if he could bring family members.

*When I go to find Qiongqi, it wouldn't be too much to bring a monkey, would it?*

Wei Yuan originally wanted to see the cultivation methods passed down from the Yin and Shang dynasties, but now his divine power was greatly depleted, and he felt a sense of fatigue rising in his heart. He looked at Mount Chongwu, which he had once ascended with Yu's daughter, Nujiao, and finally sighed regretfully, his body slowly dissipating.

……………………

Wei Yuan, who had just returned to the museum, still felt a little dizzy. His soul and body had not completely merged, and he was directly disturbed by a series of phone calls that made his head ache.

He opened his phone and saw more than a dozen missed calls in a row.

The contact's profile picture was a self-portrait of a black cat's head.

Zhang Ruosu.

The phone rang insistently.

Wei Yuan answered the phone and said, "Zhang…"

Before he could speak, a very high-pitched voice came from the other end, making Wei Yuan subconsciously block his ear with one finger and pull the phone away from his eardrum with the other. On Longhu Mountain, the old Daoist almost slammed the table and shouted:

"My little Museum Director Wei, where did you go slacking off?! Huh?!"

"If you don't come again, that little鬼 (gui, ghost)…"

"Cough cough, Grandmaster, Grandmaster, pay attention to your image. How can you utter such foul words…"

"Pay attention to what? Okay, let go, let go of this old Daoist."

Zhang Ruosu pushed away his disciple and shouted:

"Museum Director Wei, if you don't come again, that little鬼 (gui, ghost)… the heads of those 日子不错的鬼子 (ri zi bu cuo de guizi, a derogatory term for Japanese) will go bad."

"Did you think it was still winter?!"

"In this hot weather, even lime can't stop it!"

P.S.: Today's first update... I'm adjusting the rhythm. Three thousand two hundred words. Thank you Xia Liu Pei for the ten thousand reward, thank you~

There should be, possibly, three updates today...